Shopped Out to Duke of NY

Last Sunday, after doing all of our tiring errands, my sister and I who both are suffering from foodlust lately decided to stop in Robinson's Ermita while waiting for my brother's prom to end. At that time, I already felt worn out because I had spent the morning and afternoon being a nanny and slave to my brother out of blood-relational obligation.

Knowing that proms usually end past midnight, my sister had around five hours to go. What better way to pass time quickly than shop? By happy coincidence, it was the mall's grand 3-day sale! That meant lots of people and affordable but good finds everywhere! Ahhh, I seemed to have suddenly acquired a second wind.

By the end of the night, I exhausted. My feet were sore, my wallet was nearly empty, my mind was dulled, but my hands were full. (See picture below as evidence.) I looked at my watch only to find the short and long hands pointing to ten and twelve respectively. Restaurants were closing left and right. No one would take our good money, and no mercy was shown either.



In the end, after scouring the many halls of the floor, we found a warm, cozy nook still open. With almost nary a tinge of hope, I meekly asked, "Pwede pa?" pointing to their menu. And he smiled widely and nodded. The little, accomodating restaurant is Duke of New York Pizzeria.

Surprisingly, the menu offered a great variety of Italian cuisine ranging from fried mozzarella sticks, meat subs, salads to mouthwatering New York pizzas. All within reasonable price of around 170-250 per head, excluding drinks. We ordered the Garden Salad, Pizza Sub and the recommended, "small" 10-inch Garlic and Shrimp Pizza (available in medium and large for the bigger crowd or merely stomachs).



The Garden Salad was a little two small for the two of us, but the sub and the pizza were more than we could finish. At the end of that meal, we were far more than just full. We were BURSTING! I would recommend the place for a quiet, satisfying meal and great service!

PS: They accidentally switched up our receipts at the cashier, but all things were sorted out just in time for the last full showing of She's the Man, which was sooo hilarious!

The Sensational Tea Party

That picture is the first round heap of desserts in the Tea Party that I and my sister attended last Sunday. It was an event that gathered the real sweet-toothed creatures that often lurked Lori Baltazar's blog, Dessertcomesfirst and Carlos Celdran's blog, Walking Tours.

A week before then, I was already dreaming up of how the cakes would look like, how they would smell like and how they would feel in my mouth, flavors dancing on my tongue. The excitement was so great that I was only able to nap for barely two hours that Saturday night before waking up to await the day ahead.

And the afternoon's tea party did not disappoint.

To tell you just how "atat" I was, I coaxed my sister into driving us so early there that we arrived at half past one, too early for the three o' clock party. Although the wait was agonizing, I kept myself happy by focusing on the purpose of our arrival. Three o' clock finally came, and we allowed ourselves inside the

One by one, the desserts arrived, in beautiful boxes, coolers and glasswares, carefully guarded and moved like the treasures that they are. The heat was intense from the feeling of rush that bounced off each attendee inside the Living Room as we each held onto our forks and plates tightly, anticipating the Go signal. Even hotter was the weather, causing nasty sweat blotches on our blouses and shirts. But no one cared, not when those heavenly creations were just an arm's reach away.



Lori started the program, giving specific instructions not run, but to "calmly" line up for the sweets AFTER (she stressed,) the bakers and their babies were introduced. One by one the bakers popped out with cake rounds and trays of Goodness and walked around the room to show to everyone. My eyes felt like popping and plopping onto the perfectly layered Triple Hazelnut Mousse, I swear.

My mind must've left this reality plane, because the next thing I heard was the permission to begin collecting and eating. With my eagerness about to go out of control, I lined up to get my portion of the first round desserts. My golly goolash. I was in heaven at the mere sight of my plate being so full! (Look at above picture for reference.) For a while, I suspected my dessert dreams were getting the best of me.

But when I accidentally bumped onto Anson's (I just met him there.) plate and of-all-the-idiotic-things-to-do, toppled it over, I was painfully snatched back to earth. Apologizing, I silently bid my plate goodbye and quickly handed it to him before my Greed monster went ga-ga. So my sister and I shared a plate, and then rounded again for a second helping after most had gotten theirs.

Aya-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya! It was bliss.

Then I realized after a few minutes that dessert "Impacho" (Painful Indigestion that Carlos warned us against) was setting in. Suddenly, I didn't feel so perky anymore. I groaned and squirmed but still managed to shove in a few more mouthfuls. After all, I thought, when's the next time I get to try out all these fabulous and gorgeous desserts?



After all of us had tasted all the desserts, it was announced that round two was up. With a loud and shameful groan, the crowd almost-complained to the onslaught of six more sweets. My thrill was dampened by my threatening-to-shut-down stomach, so I had to keep mum lest the desserts decide to break out of my system. Slowly, I ate a forkful each of the second round desserts, savoring what I could with my overused tastebuds. But I knew they weren't going to be given justice, not with all of us so full and excessively loaded.

Half an hour later, the dessert show was over. With a sad sigh, I looked longingly at the round two desserts that were untouched, calling to the guests who were too full to oblige them. As I left the Living Room, I was already hoping for another dessert show, but this time with a little less (8-10) desserts so that we could give each one the appreciation it deserves.

Ahhh...even a week past, I'm still hung over from the event. That afternoon of March 12th is now forever etched in my gastronomical memories! Thank you Lori and Carlos for that fantabulous time at such a wonderful place. I hope this one's not the last!

And if you haven't had enough, here are links to Lori's Stories with More Pictures:
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3